Here's How Much Jay-Z Is Really Worth

"What More Can I Say" is not only the title of the third track on Jay-Z's 2003 album, but seems to be a fair question. Why? Because by then, he'd been releasing solo albums for seven years and had opened up about his upbringing and accomplishments repeatedly. Plus, countless music writers wrote about his life throughout those years, while singing praises about his albums. So really, what more can be said about Jay after all of that? Well, when it comes to his net worth, which Celebrity Net Worth puts at $1.3 billion, we feel there's a lot to get into.

Jay-Z is from Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Marcy Houses, a public housing development in Brooklyn. The rapper was raised in a single-parent household after his father Adnes Reeves left the family when he was a youngster. Yes, Jay had it rough as a child, which he's often rapped about, but he seemingly used that tough upbringing as inspiration to turn his life and finances around. As of 2022, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee isn't only considered a rap legend, he's one of the most successful rappers ever. He's raked in millions, thanks to lucrative deals including but not limited to a $150 million deal with Live Nation, owns a number of businesses like his bar chain 40/40 Club, and so much more. So sit back, relax and check out what else Jay did to accumulate all of that dough.

Long before the billion-dollar bank account and way before being considered by many to be the greatest rapper of all time, a young Jay-Z was seen in a video for a song called "Hawaiian Sophie," made by fellow Brooklyn rapper Jaz-O. The single spent 10 weeks on Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart, peaking at 18. 

The video was the first time rap fans became familiar with Jay-Z, seeing that was his very first video, which Jaz-O confirmed in a 2020 interview with "Drink Champs." The song was released in 1989 by EMI and the way it seemed, the record label wanted to mimic the success of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's "Parents Just Don't Understand," since both cuts have the same kind of PG-rated storytelling. 

Jaz-O told the "Drink Champs" hosts that he met Jay-Z at a rap battle where they faced each other. In the end, the older rapper was impressed with the talented up-and-comer and they became a team of sorts. "He was the first person that I ever heard rhyme [that reminded me of me]," said Jaz-O. "So, I was like, yeah, I got to keep an eye on him." Years later, Jaz-O and Jay-Z had a falling out but they eventually made up.

One day when Jay-Z was performing on stage, he had an epiphany about fashion, which would eventually make him millions. "I would be on stage performing, and I noticed that all the kids were wearing Iceberg jeans, the same jeans that I would wear," he told Women's Wear Daily. "So we thought, 'Why should we let Iceberg get all this business when we can do it ourselves?"

So in 1999, Jay and his partners launched Rocawear, and the company eventually reached annual sales of $700 million. But Jay and company didn't start Rocawear right off, they first went to Iceberg to see if the company was interested in cutting a deal. "We went in there with a plan to have our own line with them," Jay explained to WWD. "We were going to bring them into this culture, which was on the rise. But in the end, it didn't work out. We were naïve and were asking for way too much."

After Rocawear was launched, it was commonplace to see both urban and non-urban consumers sporting the brand. Rocawear also made it to the runways of Milan, New York, London, and Paris, as its website points out. Then in 2007, The New York Times reported that brand management company Iconix purchased Rocawear for a cool $204 million.

As Billboard reported in 2014, a company led by Jay-Z bought the French champagne Armand de Brignac, aka "Ace of Spades." The details of the sale were not made public, but there's no doubt it cost a pretty penny.

Then almost immediately, Jay started championing the brand in songs and videos, like he did in the visuals for his 2006 single "Show Me What You Got." The clip, which features the Brooklynite turning down a bottle of Cristal champagne, debuted a few months after Cristal's managing director Frederic Rouzaud shared his thoughts on the hip-hop community being huge consumers of his champagne. "What can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it," Rouzaud told The Economist. "I'm sure Dom Pérignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business." 

Understandably, these remarks did not go over well. Per Spin, Jay said in a statement, "I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various brands including the 40/40 Club nor in my personal life." So from that point, it was Ace of Spades for mogul, although he sold a 50 percent stake of it to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 2021. According to Forbes, Jay pocketed $300 million from that deal.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé kept their relationship under wraps for years before acknowledging it to the public, so when they tied the knot it wasn't surprising that they tried to keep it from the public. They weren't successful, however, because in 2008, reports started rolling in that they exchanged vows at Jay's New York City apartment with family and friends in attendance.

The marriage immediately changed a few things for Jay. For one, he was suddenly a husband, which was a stark contrast to the partying playboy he rapped about in some of his songs. Two, he officially took Beyoncé off the singles market, a woman who's been considered the world's biggest pop star and sex symbols for many years. And three, the rapper added to his income since Bey was raking in millions on her own.

In fact, Forbes reported that she earned more than Jay each year that they were together up until 2011. As of 2022, Celebrity Net Worth shows the "Lemonade" singer is worth $500 million. Bey's half a billion added to her husband's $1.3 billion equals the kind of wealth that most dream about.

So after making music, touring, running businesses, and investing, Jay-Z needs a comfy place to put his feet up at day's end. Perhaps not surprisingly, he can do that in multiple homes since he and Beyoncé own property in various parts of the United States. Per Architectural Digest, Jay and Bey plunked down $26 million for a mansion in East Hampton, New York, and $88 million for a mansion in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel-Air. And those were just the purchases they made in 2017 alone.

Other real estate investments include a New York City penthouse for $6.5 million, as well as a mansion in New Orleans that went for $2.6 million. Plus, as Complex details, the Grammy-winning rapper and his Grammy-winning wife bought a home in Indian Creek, Florida, for $9,300,000.

The thing is, though, Jay and Bey don't really talk about their real estate purchases with the press or show photos of their homes on Instagram, which is consistent with the level of privacy they've worked to maintain. So, for all we know, they could own even more properties than what's been reported.

Jay-Z has always rapped about his pricey possessions, but his 2009 song "Off That" was the first time he referenced his art collection. Then on his 2013 album "Magna Carta... Holy Grail," he rapped in detail about his paintings and his love for high-ticket art pieces. Take "Picasso Baby," for example. He not only name-drops famous artists throughout the track, but he paired it with a video shot inside New York City's Pace Gallery.

"I just want a Picasso in my casa ... Jeff Koons balloons, I just wanna blow up / Condos in my condos, I wanna row of / Christie's with my missy, live at the MoMA," raps Jay in "Picasso Baby." The Native New Yorker also mentions The Louvre and the Tate Modern in the cut, located in Paris and the UK respectively. Forbes estimates that his art collection is worth $70 million. 

Some of Jay's pieces include a 1982 painting from late New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat called "Mecca" that he bought for $4.2 million. He owns several creations from English artist Damien Hirst to boot. Clearly, Jay sees his art purchases as investments that his kids will one day benefit from. "I bought some artwork for one million / Two years later, that sh** worth two million / Few years later, that sh** worth eight million / I can't wait to give this sh** to my children," raps Jay on 2017's "The Story of O.J."

Look, even rappers who are considered far less successful and rich than Jay-Z have a luxury car collection. So imagine what his fleet of vehicles must look like. Per Highsnobiety, Jay's purchased a Maybach Exelero, as well as a 1957 Corvette C1, a Pagani Zonda F, and a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. Oh, and during a trip to Milan in 2016, he scooped up an Alfa Romeo Spider. Now, that is a souvenir.

But the celebrated rapper doesn't just buy super expensive cars for himself. said that he gifted Beyoncé a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud for one of her birthdays, spending a reported $1 million for the sky-blue vehicle. Other cars the rapping entrepreneur owns, according to The Sun, include a Maybach Exelero, a Maybach 62S, a Rolls Royce Phantom VIII, and a Dartz Prombron — considered to be the most expensive SUV on earth.

What's more, in 2021, The Telegraph reported Jay-Z and Beyoncé apparently shelled out big bucks for a custom Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, valued at $28 million at the time. That's some serious wheel estate.